Did you see what Ivanka Trump said about women’s pay and motherhood at last night’s RNC?

(See 7:49 and following)

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“Policies that allow women with children to thrive should not be novelties, they should be the norm,” Ivanka insisted to a cheering audience.

“As researchers have noted, gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country. Motherhood is.”

She cited statistics about the wage gap between women and men in the U.S., which are particularly bad for married women:

“In 2014, women made 83 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Single women without children earn 94 cents for each dollar earned by a man, whereas married mothers made only 77 cents.”

Ivanka received cheers from the Republican audience which was particularly noteworthy – this is not widely regarded as a top issue for Republicans.

This is not an argument commonly voiced by the Republican Party. While calls for equal pay for women and proper maternity leave have picked up steam recently, with the White House speaking out about the wage gap between women and men in 2014, Republicans have resisted many of the suggested government measures promising equal pay and expanded or paid maternity leave.

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Ivanka is not alone in advocating this issue.

In an April 29, 2015 General Audience, Pope Francis had this to say about women’s pay and maternity leave:

“The witness of the social dignity of marriage shall become persuasive precisely in this way, the way of a testimony which attracts, the way of reciprocity between them, of complementarity between them.

For this reason, as Christians, we must become more demanding in this regard. For example: firmly support the right to equal pay for equal work; why is it taken for granted that women should earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. This disparity is an absolute disgrace! At the same time, recognize women’s motherhood and men’s fatherhood as an always precious treasure, for the good of their children above all.”